Pipe gripping tool



Oct. 2, 1951 DUNLAP 2,569,978,

PIPE GRIPPING TOOL Filed Nov. 8, 1949 IN VEN TOR.

Lawrence E.Dunlw 0 ATTORNEYS position. 1

Patented Oct. 2, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PIPE GRIPPING TOOL Lawrence E. Dunlap, Carrollton, Ohio Application November 8, 1949, Serial No. 126,222 ,5 Claims. (oi. 294-412 The invention relates generally to means for clampingor-gripping anelongated article intermediate its ends forraising: and. lowering the same bymeansof a crane or hoist, and more particularlyto a pipegripping tool which is suitable.

for-raising andlowering lengths of pipe in a. substantially upright position, as in a well.

Certainprior-pipe gripping tools have. included slings or clamps which are satisfactory: for grippin a piiaemidway of itsends to lift it. in a substantially horizontal position, vbut these devices have not been satisfactory for raising or lowering a pipe in upright position because of.

the tendency of the pipe to slip. Other prior pipe gripping deviceswhich have securely gripped the pipe are difiicult to fasten or apply; frequently requiring tools, and are. either; complicatedhand expensive to manufacture, or heavy and: awkwardto manipulate, or both- It is. an object of the present invention to providea novelrpipe gripping tool for. tightly gripping .a length of. pipe intermediate its ends to.

securely hold the same in substantially upright Another object. is to, provide a novel pipe gripping, tool whichflis quickly and easily fastened or unfastened, without requiring tools.

,Another. object .is. :to provide. a novel pipe gripping tool which utilizesa length of ordinary chain toasecurely clampthe gripping tool to a length of pipe L i .apfurthenu-obiect isqto p v a novel nine ripping tool which is easily fastened around the pipe influpright positiongandin which the weight.

at rtheipipeu creases the: grievin action.

A still further object is to provide a novelgpipe gripping tool which .is. simpleand inexpensive tovmake, and easy to handle and manipulate.

JIlhesepand other objects are accomplished by theparta,construction and arrangement of the novel tool comprising the1 invention, a preferred embodiment of. whichis shown in the accom- Figure 1 is an isometric view of the novel pipe gripping tool in operative position, showing in dot-dash lines. a length of pipe gripped by the tool;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view as on line 2 l, Fig. 1; i

Fig. 3 is a. fragmentary plan view with the gripping chain removed;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation looking toward the inside of the rear end of one of the side bars, showing the manner of, detacha-bly connecting the. suspending chain thereto; and; i

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view as on line 5.5, Fig. 4.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

The novel pipe gripping tool is preferably Heshaped and consists of a pair of side harsh and 1 which may be made of flat bar stock and are connected intermediate their ends by a crossbar 8a which is preferably cylindrical. rear. endsofthe side barsfi and 1 are preferably connected to the ends of a flexible support which may be a chain 9 connected usual fashion to the hook of a crane or hoist for suspending the tech lAssshown, one end of the chain may be permanently secured to the rear end of a crossbar'fiqby means of a yoke l0 having its ends pivotally connected to a pintle l l extending through the barh The; other end of the-chain is detachably connected :to the rear end of the side bar I. Preferably theother end of the chain isconnectedto:

a yoke member l2 which hasa lower crossbar l3 entered. in a slot [4 which extends upwardly fromthe bottom edge of the side bar I. When.

. the crossbarnl3 is in the enlarged portion 15 of panying drawing and set forth in the specification as exemplifyingsthe best known mode of carrying out the. invention, the invention being setforth in general terms in the following general statementand the scope of. the invention being defined in the appended claims.

.In general terms, the pipe gripping tool; of the present invention includes an H-shaped frame having preferably fiat sidebarsconnected by a the top of the slot, it is prevented from accidentally falling out of the slot by means of a gravity latch I 5 Which ispivoted in the: side bar 1. adjacent the slot l4, and which has a latch finger I l at its upper end normally resting on.

the bottom edge of the enlarged portion liof the slot. As shown in dotted lines in Fig. .4, when it isadesired to detach the end of the suspending chain 9 from the slot M of the side bar .1 the latch. I5 is moved upwardly to allow the crossbar portion. P3 of the yoke member l2 totdrop out of the. slot- [4.

r The frentend of side bar 6 ispreferablyproe vided with an angular bracket l8 extending. horizontally inwarid. toward theside bar 1 audiocatedbelow the crossbar 8. An eye b lt. 1.3, i serewedinto the bracket [8 and locked: therein. by amaze, and-the upper end of. the eyebolt is? connected to:a link on one end of apipe-gripping-chain 24, the eye. of the bolt l9 preferably being located below the top of the. crossbar .8. i

The other end 22 of the chain 2| hangs free, and the; chainis i of such length asto extend over thetopof the crossbar 8, andbe looped around a lengthiofpipe L when the pipeispositionedsub the pipe.

3 stantially upright between the rear ends of the side bars 6 and 1, as indicated in dot-dash lines in Figs. 1 and 3.

The front end of the side bar I is adapted to engage selectively the links on the free end portion of the chain so as to grip the chain and hold it tightly around the length of pipe L in substantially upright position, in a manner shown in Fig. 1. Preferably, the lower edge of the front end of side bar I is provided with a slot 23 which is of such width as to receive and hold a link of the chain 2| in substantially horizontal crosswise position, as indicated by the link 2 la. 1 The upper edge of the front end ofside bar I is preferably provided with a notch 24 which is relatively narrow and is adapted to receive and hold another link 2!?) in substantially vertical crosswise position. Thus when the free end portion 22 of the chain is wrapped around the front end of side bar I with the links Ma and 2 lb engaged in the slot 23 and notch 24 respectively, the chain will be tightly gripped and held around the pipe L.

In the operation of the novel pipe gripping tool, the tool is suspended with the rear ends of the side bars 6 and l straddling a length of pipe L, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, and the free end of the chain 2| is then looped around behind the pipe and pulled forwardly to remove substantially all of the slack in the loop, whereupon the links 2i a and 21b areengaged with the front end of the side bar 1 as previously described. The suspending chain 9 is then raised to lift the pipe, and when the weight of the pipe is applied to the tool, the rear ends of the side bars 6 and 1 will swing upwardly about the crossbar 8 as a pivot,

thus taking up any remaining slack in the loop of chain 21 and'causing it to grip tightly around The rear end of the crossbar 8 may be provided with ribs or beads 25 for engaging spaced points on the pipe surface and increasing the frictional contact between the pipe and the crossbar 8. I

The novel pipe gripping tool will grip a length of pipe anywhere between its ends and securely hold it in substantially upright position while being raised or lowered, the weight of the pipe serving to increase the gripping action.

Moreover, the novel tool is quickly and easily fastened or unfastened by unskilled persons without the use of fastening tools, and utilizes a loop of ordinary chain to obtain the positive gripping action. q

In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness and understanding, but no unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirements of the prior art, because such words are used for descriptive purposes herein and are intended to be broadly construed.

Moreover, the embodiment of the improved construction illustrated and described herein is by way of example, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the exact details of construction.

Having now described the invention, the construction, the operation and use of a preferred embodiment thereof, and the advantageous new and useful results obtained thereby; the new and useful constructions, and reasonable mechanical equivalents thereof obvious to those skilled in the art, are set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A pipe gripping tool for suspending a length of pipe in substantially upright position, includ-, ing an H-shaped frame having side bars spaced for straddling the pipe and connected by a crossbar, a chain having its ends-attached to adjacent ends of said side bars for suspending the frame, a pipe gripping chain looped over the crossbar and, around a pipe located between said adjacent ends, of said side bars and contacting said crossbar, and

means on the opposite ends of said side bars for connection with the two ends of said chain loop.

2. A pipe gripping tool for suspending a length of pipe in substantially upright position, including an H-shaped frame having side bars spaced for straddling the pipe and connected by a crossbar, attaching means on adjacent ends of said side bars for connection with the ends of a suspending chain, a pipe gripping chain extending over the crossbar and looped around a pipe located between said adjacent ends of said side bars and against the crossbar, and attaching means on the opposite ends of said side bars below the top of the crossbar for connection with the ends of said chain loop.

3. A pipe gripping tool for suspending a length of pipe in substantially upright position, including an H-shaped frame having side bars spaced for straddling the pipe and connected by a crossbar, means on the rear ends of said side bars for attaching the ends of a flexible support thereto, a bracket on the front end of one. of said side bars, a chain attached at one end to said bracket, and means on the front end of the other side bar for detachably holding selectively links of said chain when it is looped over the crossbar and around a pipe in substantially upright position' between said rear ends of said side bars and engaging said crossbar.

4. A pipe gripping tool for suspending a length of pipe in substantially upright position, including an H-shaped frame having side bars spaced for straddling the pipe and connected by a crossbar, means'on the rear ends of said side bars for attaching the ends of a flexible support thereto, a chain attached at one end to the front end of one side bar, and means on the front end of the other side bar for gripping selectively links of said chain when extending in' a loop over the crossbar to grip a pipe in substantially upright position located between said rear ends of said side bars. 1 l

5. A pipe gripping tool for suspending a length of pipe in substantially upright position, including an H -shaped frame having side bars connected by a crossbar, a flexible support attached at one end to the rear end of one side bar, latch means detachably connecting the other end of said support with the rear end of the other side bar, a bracket on the front end of one side bar below the top of said crossbar, a chain attached at one end to said bracket, the front end of the other side bar having a slot in its lower edge for engaging selectively one of the links of said chain when it extends in a loop over the, crossbar, and the front end of said other.side bar having a notch in its upper edge for engaging another link of said chain to grip the chain.

LAWRENCE E. DUNLAP.

REFERENCESCITED i I The following references are of record in' the 

